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Finn Balor's latest loss has raised eyebrows

4 people who defeated Finn Balor clean in WWE

The October 23, 2017, episode of Raw appears to have caused quite a fuss among members of the WWE Universe. Not only are fans confused by the sudden alignment of SmackDown’s heels with the babyface members of the roster, but many are also questioning why Finn Balor lost in such brutal fashion to Kane.

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The previous night at the TLC pay-per-view, the “Extraordinary Man Who Does Extra Ordinary Things” was victorious against AJ Styles in an encounter that WWE’s commentary team hyped up as a genuine contender for Match of the Year.

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So, why have Balor lose to 50-year-old Kane the following night? Whatever the reason, it’s not the first time it’s happened in the Irishman’s short WWE career. In fact, since returning from injury in April, he has already lost clean to four different Superstars.

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Has the former Universal champion had too many clean losses this year? Has he been a victim of bad booking? Or… look away now, Finn fans… is he just not as good as people think he is? In this article, we run through all four of his clean defeats on the main roster.

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#1 Roman Reigns

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Finn and Roman have crossed paths twice on Raw
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On Balor’s first night in a WWE ring, he defeated Cesaro, Kevin Owens and Rusev in a Fatal 4-Way match on Raw to earn a spot in the main event of the show against Roman Reigns, which he won clean. It was a statement victory for the former NXT champion and a sign that he was going to be a major star on the main roster.

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Of course, things didn’t quite go according to plan and, after going on to win the Universal Championship in a match against Seth Rollins at SummerSlam 2016, a serious shoulder injury forced Finn to relinquish the title.

Nine months later, the leader of "Balor Club" was back. He picked up wins over Jinder Mahal, Curt Hawkins and Samoa Joe, among others, but then he ran into Reigns, who defeated the Irishman on the May 15 episode of Raw with an almighty Spear.

#2 Samoa Joe

Samoa Joe made Balor pass out at Extreme Rules
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Balor was defeated clean by Samoa Joe in NXT and the same thing happened again when the two reunited on the main roster in a Fatal 5-Way match to determine a new No.1 contender for Brock Lesnar’s Universal Championship.

Many, including myself, had him down as favourite to win the main event of Extreme Rules 2017 and go on to challenge Lesnar for the title that he had to give up 10 months earlier.

However, after landing a Coup de Grace on Roman Reigns, Joe crept up behind Finn and locked in his Coquina Clutch finisher. The Irishman attempted to free himself but, just like in NXT, he ended up passing out to the brutal submission.

#3 Bray Wyatt

Balor and Bray have had many battles
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Just six days before their much-hyped SummerSlam meeting, Balor and Bray Wyatt went head-to-head in an unadvertised 11-minute match on the August 14 episode of Raw.

Towards the end of the contest, Finn attempted to go for the Coup de Grace but Bray quickly dragged him down from the top rope and picked up a clean victory after executing his Sister Abigail finisher.

“The Eater of Worlds” then poured a red substance, symbolising blood, all over Balor in the corner of the Raw ring. The former NXT champion responded backstage by warning that he would unleash “The Demon” in their match at SummerSlam, which Finn went on to win.

#4 Kane

Kane beat Balor in a seven-minute match
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Out of Balor’s four clean losses in WWE, this one made the least sense. At TLC 2017, the man from County Wicklow, Ireland defeated AJ Styles in a fantasy match-up that many fans had been waiting years to see.

It was undoubtedly Finn’s best match since returning from injury and it looked to be a milestone moment that would help him move away from the stale Bray Wyatt storyline and propel him into a future Universal Championship feud with Brock Lesnar.

However, the following night on Raw, for a reason that wasn’t and still hasn’t been explained, Balor decided to answer an open challenge set by Kane, whose path of destruction at TLC resulted in Braun Strowman being thrown in a dumpster truck.

Finn didn’t put up much of a fight against “The Big Red Machine” and, after just seven minutes, he was pinned for the 1-2-3 following three consecutive Chokeslams. The manner of the defeat left the WWE Universe -- and the WWE locker room -- scratching their heads.

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Edited by
anirudh.b
 
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